Thanks to Cynthia McLeod’s bestselling novel 'The Cost of Sugar?' Suriname’s colonial history has achieved international fame. For centuries, hundreds of thousands of slaves were put to work on the many sugar cane plantations around the Commewijne district and the Suriname River. Various local travel companies organise day trips to the historical sites of the former sugar culture.
Rust & Werk (Rest & Work), Goede Vrede (Good Peace), Concordia - many of the 17th and 18th-century plantations in Suriname had romantic names, hiding a world of suffering and oppression. At the height of slavery there were more than 500 slave plantations in the Dutch colony. First, only sugar was cultivated and also later tea and cocoa. The Fort Zeelandia museum sheds light on this dark period. Even more impressive is a visit to several old plantations in the Commewijne district.
“Sip a rum cocktail as you take in the views of the Suriname River”